


The Pull of Destiny

by Ink



Category: Tales of Legendia
Genre: Character Study, Gen, POV Second Person, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-08
Updated: 2008-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-03 14:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink/pseuds/Ink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>You are the Merines.</i> Shirley waits for the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pull of Destiny

You are the Merines.

You can see everything now, and you remember--not just your own Rite, but the Rites of hundreds upon hundreds of previous Merineses, and their lives as well. Nerifes has granted you its power, and you open your heart to it, and you _understand_.

In the beginning, there was peace. Your people lived happily and in prosperity, each generation raising the crystal spires of their underwater buildings tall, and raising their children to build them one day still taller. There were no quarrels or wars: your people saw no need to fight. There were never any wars before the Orerines came, brandishing their weapons of glass and steel. But after that, they never stopped.

Images, one after another, flash through your mind. Bodies strewn across battlefields as far as the eye can see; blood choking plants and staining the ground red; the endless churning of an angry sea. The Ferines and Orerines have always fought each other. Their conflict is guided by the inescapable pull of destiny; it is written into their very bones. As long as both races exist on this world, there will always be war. It has been this way for more than four thousand years.

_"Shirley! Shirley, are you okay?! Let me see Shirley--"_

It is about to end, now.

You are the Merines, so you reach for the one presence that will always be beside you and time your breathing to the ebb and flow of the sea. Right now, you _are_ Nerifes, and Nerifes is you. It is your duty to to carry out its will, which is the will of your people: it is your duty to revive the Wings of Light. You have a purpose that is far greater than yourself, far greater than any one person could ever be.

_"What kind of nonsense is that? No matter what happens, you're still--"_

You are the Merines, leader of your people, and they treat you like a queen. They approach you always with lowered eyes, on bended knee, and no desire of yours goes unfulfilled, though you no longer have human desires. Each of your men stands ready to defend you and the cause at a moment's notice. Walter is a constant shadow by your side; he directs the rest of them to their places with stony voice. "Don't worry," he says. "I'll protect you, Merines."

_"I'll protect you, Shirley."_

It is everything you could ever want or need.


End file.
